Oldest kitchen?

We did up our kitchen in 1990, just before my first son was born, and I’ve redid bits and pieces but it does look rather dated. I went for fuscia pink with everything, as MR D showed no interest so I went with my favourite colour at the time. my son’s as a consequence hate the kitchen.

Mine is about 40 years old. Getting rather tatty but OH thinks we should never get rid of anything until it falls apart. I Know its age because of the style and colour and make. The company ( all be it a good one) went out of business over 20 years ago.

Your husband sounds like mine aprilrose Anything I want to update he tells me has a “good ten or fifteen years left”. What I want to know is how he makes these calculations as the amount of time he calculates is always the same. Supposedly I’m the one with dyslexia but something doesn’t add up

In these days of increasing anti-waste, anti-consumerism, maybe we should feel rather pleased with ourselves.

I honestly do think so, Witzend. I hate waste of any kind. And DH, being a true Yorkshireman, is never going to complain about that.

In these days of increasing anti-waste, anti-consumerism, maybe we should feel rather pleased with ourselves.

yes I think so too. I felt very satisfied that I was able to have the broken cupboard and drawer repaired. The door fronts are solid wood and fine. They are so much better quality than the ones you see now in the shops, You can spend a fortune of course. My friend's son builds kitchens for rich people and for their yachts etc. He talks in telephone number figures - really. The very rich don't even ask him what it will cost!

Gram, not quite that range but they did have an open fire in the living room that had an oven at the side. Never saw it used but probably Nan had at some point. The house was originally her fathers, my Gramph bought it off him after he and Nan had been married about ten years.

Gt auntie's range wasn't quite like the one in the picture. I don't think the house had ever been changed but although it would have been interesting as a museum, when she died, her DD just got a clearance company in and sold the house. She must have hated it.
We have one of the 1950s pantries which we inherited in our previous house. We use it as a tool cupboard but I imagine that back in the 1950s it would have been the smart kitchen unit.

I’m so happy to join this thread because I didn’t want to start one that made me sound rather smug........my new kitchen is being fitted as we speak. Our old one was fitted in the early 80 before we bought the house. At our last consultation with wren I remembered that I used to work for hygena back In the late sixties. All the kitchens were the same as the new ones on display. Lots of midnight blue, yellow and white. Then came the pine/wood affect like our old kitchen. Just goes to show how fashionable and design just come and go in a big circle. Ps fingers crossed ? all goes smoothly for our new kitchen. This time next week we should be home and dry. YEHA

My kitchen was put in by the previous house owners in 1986. I moved here 29 years ago tomorrow, 31 January 1991. I replaced the ceramic hob with a second hand one about 10 years ago, and have just replaced the built-in oven when the original finally needed too many repairs to be worthwhile. The boiler is still going, with a yearly service, 34 years on!

Get off with you morethan2
I remember in our first house changing the kitchen to light blue formica and wood effect worktops.

It was very smart. DH did it all himself.

I'm surprised the antiques roadshow haven't been round to view mine.
I think it was probably done in the late 60s or early 70s by the council.

Its had various bodge jobs done on it over the years, and I'm considering a new one (bodge job, not kitchen!)

Not my kitchen but my daughter's.
The house is over 100 years old and still has the original joiner built kitchen cupboards which are painted. The original sink is Belfast sink style but is really big and deep and in excellent condition. Two low down drawers are metal lined with air vents to the outside, presumably to keep veg cool (she lives in a hot country). They love it and have no intention of replacing it.
She does have a very modern double width American fridge freezer and a free standing cooker with two normal sized ovens side by side and a 6 ring hob.

Your husband sounds like mine aprilrose Anything I want to update he tells me has a “good ten or fifteen years left”

That sounds like him. I didnt realise there were two cast from the same mould around. But nonetheless.

That said, I would love a new kitchen. On my wish list for some future point.

Your daughter’s kitchen sounds amazing, Coolgran.

We still have a Belfast sink in the cellar. It must be 170 years old.

Just 10 or 15 years left?

DH always says 'that's good for 20 years yet'

He is good at repairs, though.

My dad still has the same kitchen he had when I moved out in 1973 and I m now nearly 63.... same old Formica tops, he’s had a new fridge and cooker ? same sink and drawers that were there when I was a child!

Witzend your old kitchen style is probably in the very expensive architectural magazines right now as the latest and dearest innovative design.

Had lived in pre war houses until 76 when moved to a new build. Put up with the kitchen for 7 years saving like fury for a new one. The cupboards on the 76 one were minuscule, could hardy get a couple of tins in or a large dinner plate yet it was 'state of the art' at the time. New one in 83 was fantastic by comparison space wise. New house again 2009 and again very fashionable to look at but very limited space. Did manage to add to and redesign to get enough space. DS moved into new build 2019 and he found he had to add to units. The purpose of a kitchen has drastically changed, being used as an eating and sitting area as well as the engine of the home which I think results in them being changed so often.

Interesting subject today,I must have the oldest kitchen, took over from my Cousin a few years ago the house was built in the early seventies,and I love it,we have changed the kitchen quite a bit, but still have the original sink with the taps, which my Husband hates, but replacing them would mean taking the whole unit away and the size doesnt fit the metric system so they are here to stay, kitchen quite modern now.We did take out one of those kitchen cupboards everyone had in the sixties, the one with cupboards above, a shelf which opened out as a bread board etc,they were very modern and practical in the sixties!

There is an amazing company called 'Kitchen Magic' which will come and transform your kitchen for the fraction of the price of a new one by replacing doors, sides, plinths and worktops. They will also build in new integrated appliances if you want it done. Their fitters are brilliant (we have had them back twice) and the disruption less less than that of a proper refit. Our whole kitchen took a week from start to finish. They also built us a bespoke cupboard to hide the boiler. Google them. They have a more limited range of kitchens than most but that keeps the cost down and you can have any colour and any finish you want.

Sorry, 'is less' not 'less less'!

Before my husband retired, he worked as a joiner for over 50years, and built and fitted many kitchens himself including some that were in Grade 1 listed buildings, where preservation rather than total replacement were very important. He always worked in solid timber, not a piece of plywood or MDF in sight, and most sinks where fashioned out of a single piece of stone, the Belfast sinks didn’t become popular until after Victorian times, and the most important kitchen assest was the large solid wood cooks table, the main work surface of the time. How things have changed, when we went shopping for our new kitchen, most suppliers didn’t even offer a solid timber framed kitchen, never mind one free from ply or MDF! Some where MDF and nothing else, built for show and not to last, so more profit for the kitchen suppliers of the future. We ended up going to a specialist trade supplier to buy our new kitchen, it’s solid timber framed, panels and doors. Only the shelving and backings are plywood, and it is paintable if ever we decided on a colour change in the future.
The problem with MDF is that it relays on a thin plastic foil wrap to repel moisture. Should that wrap become damaged in anyway, either by wear and tear or by the use of harsh cleaning chemicals, paint etc, then moisture can penetrate into the MDF and cause distortion and swelling, resulting in loss of strength. They are simply not built to last like the old kitchens where.

Had my kitchen re-done last August. Before that it was the original we jumbled together in 1975. Pluses and minuses I might add.

My gran and grandad brought their house in 1948/9 and when my gran died two years ago it was still the original kitchen units. She had updated the white goods when necessary and had new work surfaces in the 80’s but the cupboards were still the original ones. So high up to the ceiling you needed high ladders to reach the top shelf and a old pull system ceiling clothes rack.
So around 60 years old.

When we demolished our (40 year old) kitchen, I found two large bolts apparently holding up the row of cupboards suspended over a breakfast bar.

I got a heavy duty pipe wrench to undo them - no need, they weren't attached to the beam above, just went through the ceiling next to it. How the whole lot had stayed up I'll never know!